Chapter 354: Happenings in Shangjing (11)

Hearing Jiang Pengji’s question, he pulled himself together and clenched his fist into his opposite hand. He held them in front of his chest in a panicked manner. “If you’re fine, it’s better for you to not get involved.”

Mortals suffered when gods fought.

In Shangjing City, there were two groups of people who could not be provoked. One was the relatives of the emperor, and the other was a group headed by eunuchs.

In the court, the two parties fought openly and sniped in the dark. Outside the court, they were like pins against an awl.

“Oh? I’m just asking about what happened. Why does it matter whether or not I offended them?” Jiang Pengji lazily lifted her eyelids. Although the manservant had good intentions, he sounded somewhat arrogant. She was just asking about it. It was her business whether she offended them or not. It was also her business if she was scared of trouble or not. Why would she need a third party to decide for her?

The manservant’s facial expression stiffened. He then realized that what he said was inappropriate, and it had angered Jiang Pengji. He hurriedly patched things up and replied apologetically, “Please forgive me. It was my fault.”

“All right,” Jiang Pengji responded. Her gaze drifted and fell on the two groups of people in the middle of the hall. They seemed to be arguing as they faced each other. Messy tea sets, the four treasures of the study, and a broken tea table and desk laid around their feet. They looked like they were about to fight physically and create trouble.

The manservant understood her meaning and did not dare to think of himself as smart. He hurriedly explained, “It’s nothing serious. Secretary Huang’s god-grandson got into a conflict with Army General Fang’s son over who is the best painter. They’re dissatisfied with the decision and have gotten into a squabble. Then, they started fighting.”

Secretary Huang? Jiang Pengji frowned.

She knew about the situation in Shangyang Palace quite well. Secretary Huang was one of the few competent eunuchs around the emperor. Secretary Huang served the emperor and was quite valued by him. He had a very influential say in the group of eunuchs. He was also the one who sold the most official posts for consideration.

Although Secretary Huang was a eunuch without a penis and was destined to have no children, he had a god-grandson, and he could still carry on his family name. The so-called god-grandson was naturally the child of his godson, whom Secretary Huang had adopted. The child addressed Secretary Huang as his grandfather.

As for Army General Fang…? That referred to the family of the empress’s mother. Army General Fang was the younger brother of the empress’s mother. The family was quite favored. More importantly, the first wife of the emperor was from the Fang family. They were conferred a posthumous title by the emperor. There were already two empresses from the Fang family. They had many riches and honor at one time.

In order to check out and control the aristocratic families, the emperor took back the authority that was in the hands of the aristocrats. He eagerly wheedled the family of the empress’s mother and put them in important positions.

“They fought over who was the best painter?” Jiang Pengji asked.

“Yeah.” The manservant nodded awkwardly.

The main role of the teahouse was to recruit talented people, and events were often organized to attract talented people to the teahouse to paint. Then, the best painter was picked from all the works. The beautiful paintings could even be hung in the teahouse for the customers to enjoy, and they could promote their names in literature.

The real rich scholars disdained promoting their names in such a way, but the ordinary, poor scholars valued it a lot.

Moreover, the owner of the teahouse was Prince Changshou, who held real power. The business of the teahouse was generally good.

Being a descendant of a eunuch, although his family was wealthy, people still looked down on him. He had to gild his name in literature. The relatives of the emperor could only be regarded as a new force. To put it bluntly, they were just upstarts and had no heritage at all. They still had to hang their heads in shame in front of the aristocrats.

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Secretary Huang’s god-grandson was only 18 years old and was very handsome. Standing there, he looked like a piece of the art himself. However, he was the descendant of a eunuch, and he despised the aristocrats. Some aristocrats with heritage could not go support him.

He knew what he lacked, so he tried to promote his name in literature. He could not change his origin and decide his starting point, so he had to work even harder after his birth.

As for Army General Fang’s son, he was a dandy. His height was almost the same as his body width. So many masters were invited, but he hardly learned anything, even after a few years. He usually did not pay attention in classes and did not work hard. He only knew how to fool around in the inner courtyard, and he violated so many decent girls. However, he thought highly of himself, and felt that his talents had already surpassed the sky. He refused to accept that his champion title had been taken away by others.

Both parties confronted each other because of it. Army General Fang’s son even instructed the manservant to beat them up.

“Bah. You’re just the descendant of a eunuch. Rather than enjoying your wealth and inheriting the lost body of knowledge of your family, you were actually bold enough to make a fool of yourself.”

Army General Fang’s son raised his hand and wiped his face. His face was oily, making him look extremely greasy and fat. The lost body of knowledge in his family? Was that not a way of asking him to be an eunuch?

“How rude. You can’t beat me in literature, so you’re trying to take advantage of your power to bully me. Do you think that I’m afraid of you?” Secretary Huang’s god-grandson was so furious that his face flushed. However, his body size was really not a threat to the fat boy.

“Who says that I can’t beat you in literature? You clearly bribed the referee and cheated in secret. Bah. How can someone without a penis write a good article? If you can recognize all the words, your ancestral grave can emit smoke.” The fat boy persistently dissed him by using his title as the descendant of a eunuch. The manservant beside him had already rolled up his sleeves, and was prepared for a big fight. “If you don’t believe me, ask around in Shangjing City. What does the old man with the surname Huang in your family do now?”

Secretary Huang’s god-grandson clenched his fists. He did not like being the descendant of a eunuch, but he really treated Secretary Huang as his biological grandfather. How could he let others humiliate him? “You fat thing. You won’t shed a tear until you see a coffin today, right? Do you really want to fight with the gloves off and get serious?”

“Bring it on. I’ll beat you up till you cry for your father! Whoever’s fearful, he’s the wimp, and he’ll have to take off all his clothes, lay on the ground, and bark like a dog!” the fat boy clamored without fear.

Army General Fang controlled the imperial guards in Shangjing City. To put it bluntly, he did not have to care about anyone except for the emperor and the prince of the royal family.

Let alone the son of a minor eunuch––even if it was Secretary Huang himself, he did not have to be scared.

Both parties were fuming with rage. It seemed like a war would break out anytime.

Clink, clank, clink, clank…

Of course, they did not have to fight themselves. They could just hand the task over to the manservants beside them.

“Beat them up! Use all your strength! Beat them up till they wet their pants in terror! The god-grandson of a eunuch dares to be rough and rude in Shangjing. What a joke!” the fat boy clamored while standing on top of a table. He looked sinister yet excited.

Secretary Huang’s god-grandson hid behind the fighters. He saw an inkstone in a corner. He immediately grabbed it and splashed the ink onto the fat boy.

All of a sudden, the manservants from both sides began to fight, throwing anything that they could find.

The fat boy was too fat; he was not agile enough. Secretary Huang’s god-grandson hid behind people and secretly threw things to attack the other party.

The entire hall on the first floor was full of screams and clanks. Some scholars could not stand it anymore; they simply covered their faces and left. Some hid in the corner and looked on. They enjoyed watching the fight to the full.

In a narrow sense, it was just a dispute caused by personal feelings between the two youngsters. No one was willing to give into anybody. In a broad sense, it was the first time that the group of eunuchs had fought in public with a group of relatives to the emperor.